A Hawaii producer of nutrition and health products made from microalgae lost $4.4 million in its recent fiscal year after adjusting an accounting item that it previously expected would reduce future taxes.
The loss for Hawaii island-based Cyanotech Corp. covered the 12 months ended March 31 and compared with a 2015 fiscal year loss of $24,000.
Most of the recent fiscal year loss was due to reducing the value of expected future income tax savings by $3.6 million. Still, the company’s loss from operations was $785,000 compared with a $322,000 operating profit in the 2015 fiscal year.
Sales revenue decreased by 6 percent to $31.8 million in the recent year compared with $33.8 million the year before.
For just the fiscal fourth quarter representing the first three months of this year, sales totaled $8.2 million, down 4 percent from $8.5 million a year earlier. The net loss for the quarter was $4 million compared with a $170,000 loss in the year-ago quarter.
The company said the full-year sales decline was primarily due to lower production of its astaxanthin product because of weather in the first half of the fiscal year. Cyanotech also is in the midst of shifting from being a bulk ingredient supplier to selling branded products to consumers as part of a strategy to boost its profit margin on sales.
Cyanotech is trying to emphasize the qualities of its natural astaxanthin and spirulina products over synthetic versions on the market. One growing outlet for the company’s products has been Costco, where Cyanotech said it entered 53 more stores in the San Francisco Bay Area during the first three months of this year, bringing the number of Costco stores carrying its products to 163.
“Further expansion into other Costco regions is planned,” Gerry Cysewski, Cyanotech interim president and CEO, said in a statement.
Shares of Cyanotech edged up 3 cents to close at $4.93 Thursday after the earnings announcement. The stock’s price is about $1 above a 52-week low of $3.89 on Feb. 11 but remains far below the comparable high of $10.25 on June 26.
